On a quiet Friday morning in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, the halls of the Kogi State Traditional Council became the meeting place for a conversation that reached beyond politics and into the very soul of Nigerian democracy. The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, arrived in the company of national commissioners and senior directors, not with the loud noise of a campaign or the heavy hand of authority, but with a humble and urgent request. He had come to kneel, in a manner of speaking, before the traditional rulers of Kogi State, asking for their support and royal blessings in the long and difficult road toward the 2027 general elections. His presence there was a rare admission of a truth that is often forgotten in the corridors of power: that the credibility of an election does not begin and end in the ballot booth, but in the hearts and minds of the people, in the villages and towns where trust is built over years, and where the voices of traditional leaders carry a weight that no official announcement can ever match. The royal fathers gathered in that hall represent generations of leadership, wisdom, and community connection. They are not just kings and chiefs; they are the keepers of social harmony, the first point of contact for disputes, the patrons of development and the conscience of their people. Amupitan understood this when he rose to speak. He told them simply and firmly that INEC cannot effectively conduct credible elections without their cooperation, because their authority reaches places where government offices have never reached, and their influence penetrates communities, wards and villages where democracy often feels distant and abstract.
Standing before the traditional council, Amupitan made his specific appeals with the patience and clarity of someone who knows that change cannot be commanded but must be inspired. He asked the royal fathers to become the strongest voices encouraging eligible citizens to collect their Permanent Voter Cards, the small but powerful document that transforms a resident into a participant, a spectator into a decision-maker. Without the PVC, every dream of free and fair elections remains incomplete, because the right to vote is a right that must be exercised, and a voter who has no card is a voter who has been silenced long before election day. The chairman emphasised that possession of the card is not just a bureaucratic requirement; it is the foundation of a person’s civic voice, the key that opens the door to choosing leaders who will shape the future of families, communities and the nation. He did not stop at the mechanics of voter registration. He moved further, to the moral core of the democratic process. He pleaded with the traditional rulers to discourage political thuggery and violence, to use their authority to tell young men and women in their domains that no candidate, no party, no political ambition is worth the blood of any citizen or the destruction of community peace. In the language of the elders, he was asking them to stand between the people and the fire of electoral greed, to be the guardians of order when tempers rise, and to remind everyone that after the victory speeches and the concession messages, it is the community that must live on together, sharing the same markets, the same churches and mosques, the same water and land. The royal fathers listened in silence, nodding at times, because in their long experience they had seen elections bring both hope and sorrow, and they knew the chairman was speaking a truth they had witnessed with their own eyes.
The INEC chairman’s warning against political violence was powerful, but it was also deeply compassionate. He spoke of the youths of Nigeria with a father’s concern, saying they should never allow themselves to be used as instruments of political violence. His voice carried a maternal and paternal weight as he reminded everyone that ambition is temporary but life is sacred, and that the wounds of electoral conflicts do not heal easily. He asked the traditional rulers to send strong messages to politicians and their supporters that intimidation, violence and all forms of electoral malpractice are unacceptable and will never be tolerated within their areas of authority. There was something almost prophetic in his words, a sense that he was not just fulfilling a duty but pleading with the nation to learn from its past. He did not speak in the abstract. He spoke about real communities, real families, real homes that could be destroyed in a single moment of madness. He reminded the gathering that it is the youth who are often the first to be pushed into violence, yet it is also the youth who carry the future of the country on their shoulders. When a young person is used as a thug, that person does not only risk arrest or injury; they risk losing their own future, their moral compass, their place in a society that needs them as builders, not destroyers. By appealing to the traditional rulers, the chairman was appealing to the deepest roots of authority in Nigerian society, asking them to stand firm and tell politicians, in their own language, that no election result is worth a single drop of blood. This appeal was not only about the 2027 general elections; it was about the kind of nation Nigeria wants to become, one where power is contested with arguments and ideas, not with guns and machetes, where opponents are not enemies but fellow citizens, and where the peaceful transfer of power is a matter of pride, not fear.
Misinformation and fake news formed another important part of the chairman’s message, and here too he recognised the unique role of traditional rulers. He appealed to the royal fathers to educate their subjects, especially those in the rural communities, about the great dangers of spreading unverified information on social media. In the modern world, a single false message can travel around a community in minutes, sowing confusion and anger where calm and understanding should stand. Fake news, as he carefully explained, has the power to discourage voter participation, because people may hear rumours that the election is already rigged or that their vote will not count, and in despair they may simply stay at home. It has the power to undermine public confidence in the electoral process, because once doubt is planted, it is very difficult to remove. And, most dangerously, it has the power to trigger violence, especially when false information is used to inflame ethnic, religious or political tensions. Amupitan said that the commission was developing communication channels that would allow Nigerians to verify information and separate truth from falsehood, but he insisted that the traditional rulers must also be part of this fight. They must be the ones who carry the truth to the corners of the state, who correct falsehoods in marketplaces, at naming ceremonies, in family compounds, wherever people gather. He also gave a crucial reassurance: the 2027 general elections will hold as scheduled in January and February. This was important because rumours of postponement or manipulation can themselves become weapons of destabilisation. The chairman explained that his visit to Kogi was part of a broader nationwide exercise of staff interactive meetings and zonal readiness assessment. Before coming to Kogi, the commission had already assessed its infrastructure, personnel and logistics across the South-South, South-West, South-East, North-East and North-West geopolitical zones. The North-Central zone, represented by Kogi State, was the final stage of this exercise. The purpose of this assessment, he said, was to evaluate the preparedness of INEC personnel and the state of electoral facilities and equipment ahead of the general elections, so that when the moment comes, the commission will not be caught by surprise but will be ready to conduct an election that the people can trust.
Earlier in the event, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Kogi State, Dr. Shehu Wahab, had already laid the foundation for the chairman’s appeal with his own warm and appreciative remarks. He described traditional institutions as strategic partners in the conduct of free, fair, credible and peaceful elections, and he reminded everyone present that traditional rulers remain the bedrock of peace, stability and civic engagement across the 21 Local Government Areas of the state. Dr. Wahab spoke with gratitude in his voice as he thanked the royal fathers for providing guidance and practical support to the commission, especially during operational and logistical challenges that often arise in the difficult terrain of electoral administration. He then offered a story that illustrated the depth of the bond between INEC and the traditional institution. He disclosed that one of the traditional rulers at the very gathering had once provided safe custody for some INEC property after the vandalisation of one of the commission’s offices. This was not a grand public gesture; it was a quiet act of responsibility, the kind of thing a community leader does to protect the institutions that serve his people. But to INEC, it meant everything. It showed that the relationship between the electoral commission and the traditional council was not merely formal or ceremonial, but a genuine partnership built on trust, care and shared commitment to the public good. Dr. Wahab used this story to urge the traditional rulers to continue their support, to keep sensitising their subjects on the importance of peaceful civic participation, especially the collection of Permanent Voter Cards, and to encourage political campaigns that are conducted with dignity, respect and patience. He reminded them that their role as peacemakers is not limited to crisis times; it is needed every day, in every village, in every local government, in every conversation about politics and democracy. The REC’s speech was a reminder that behind every successful election there are thousands of unsung heroes, and in Kogi State, the traditional rulers are among the most important of them.
The response from the royal fathers was full of warmth and clarity. The Ohinoyi of Ebira, who also serves as the Vice Chairman of the Kogi State Traditional Council, His Royal Majesty Alhaji Ahmed Tijani Anaje, rose to speak with the calm confidence of a leader who understands both tradition and change. He told the INEC chairman that the traditional rulers are fully aware of the need for peaceful elections, and he pledged, on behalf of the council, the continuous support of the traditional institution toward the seamless conduct of elections in the state. His words were simple but strong: “Our doors are wide open for any engagement that will contribute to the peaceful conduct of elections in Kogi State.” He went further, reminding the gathering that the conduct of peaceful and credible elections is not solely the duty of INEC, but the shared responsibility of every citizen, every community and every institution. The royal father then promised that the traditional rulers will continue to take useful messages to all corners of the state, educating the people on the negative effects of misinformation and fake news during elections, so that voters can act on truth rather than fear. He also assured the chairman that the traditional council will put their heads together to ensure that people go out to collect their Permanent Voter Cards before the general elections. It was a response that warmed the hearts of the INEC delegation, because it was not an empty promise but a call to collective action. As the meeting drew to a close, there was a sense that something important had been achieved, not in terms of agreements signed or documents exchanged, but in the quieter language of trust, relationship and shared purpose. The road to the 2027 elections is still long, and many obstacles remain, but the foundation being laid through such engagements is strong. When traditional rulers, electoral officials and ordinary citizens stand together, when they speak the same language of peace, when they reject violence and embrace truth, the hope for a credible election becomes more than a slogan. It becomes a living promise, carried by the elders into every village, whispered in every prayer, and planted in the hearts of the voters who will one day walk to the polling units with their PVCs in hand, ready to shape the future of Kogi State and Nigeria with a single peaceful act of democratic faith.